Device for cleaning water closet basins



Jan. 19, 1954 G. s. ADAMS DEVICE FOR CLEANING WATER CLOSET BASINS Filed Oct. 26, 1946 FIG.

INVENTOR GEOFFREY STEN ADAMS ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 19, 1954 DEVICE FOR CLEANING WATER CLOSET BASINS Geoflrrey Sten Adams, Saltsjobaden, Sweden Application October 26, 1946, Serial No. 705,977

2 Claims.

My invention relates to a device comprising a holder and squeegee members for the cleaning of water-closet basins. It is one object of the invention to provide a device of this character, which combines effective cleaning with the most exacting sanitary requirements. A further object of the invention is to provide a holder and releasable squeegee members therefon' which combine effective cleaning with a low cost of production, so that after the members have been used once, they can be thrown away. Still another object of the invention is to give the members such a form that they can be attached to the holder in a simple Way and be detached from it after use, without having to touch the members with the hands.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, and of which:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view through a holder fora cleaning pad;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a cleaning pad or squeegee constructed in accordance with the present invention and attached to a slightly modified form of holder; and

Figure 3 is an elevationalview of the cleaning pad of Figure 3, illustrating a method of manufacturing.

As shown in the drawing, a'preferred form of holder comprises a tube I having an enlarged upper portion I I surrounded by a handle portion or member I2. Desirably the tube I0 is provided with a curved lower extremity I3 and a rod I4 is mounted within the tube for reciprocal movement. The upper extremity of the rod I4 has a pin I5 mounted thereupon, in any suitable fashion as by threaded engagement or the like, this pin projecting through the tube I0 and having a manipulating knob or handle l6 secured to the free end thereof. To prevent complete withdrawal of the pin I5 from the tube I0, the lower portion ll of this pin is of enlarged diameter and the upper extremity of'portion II of the tube, within which the pin I5 is received, has an inwardly bent or directed edge I9, the pin I5 projecting therethrough. Preferably a coil spring IB surrounds the rod I4 within the enlarged portion II of the tube I0 and by reason of engagement against the lower end of the enlarged portion I! of the pin I 5 normally urges the pin outwardly with the knob I 6 in the solid line position illustrated in Figure 1.

The lower extremity of the rod I4 is connected to a curved pin 20, this pin having a curvature complementary to that of the curved portion I3 of the tube ID; if desired, and to facilitate the movement of the pin 20 within the curved'portion I3 of the tube II], a comparatively short coil spring (not shown) may be interposed between the pin 20 and lower extremity of the rod I4.

The lower end of the curved portion I3 of the tube I 0 has an enlarged cup-like flange 2| secured thereto and the free end of the curved pin 20, which projects beyond the flange 2|, has a reversely cupped and complementary flange 22 mounted thereupon. It will be understood that the disposable cleaning pad, which will be described in detail hereafter, is retained upon the curved pin 20 between the flanges 2| and 22 and, when the cleaning operation is completed and the pad has served its purpose, the manipulating knob I6 is moved to the dotted line position shown, in Figure 1, thus separating the flanges 2! and 22 and permitting the pad to drop from the curved pinZIl. With the holder in this position, that is, with the spring I8 compressed by depression of the knob I6 and with the retaining flange 22 in the, position shown in dot and dash lines, a pad may be positioned upon the stem 25 in surrounding relationship with respect thereto. The knob I6 is then released and the rod I4, urged by the spring I6, returns to normal position carrying therewith the flange 22 and securing the cleaning pad in position between the two opposed flanges. Since the pad is thus secured only at the central portion thereof, the edges of the pad can be brought into contact with the surfaces that are to be cleaned with extreme case.

The cleaning pad illustrated in Figures 2 and 3 comprises at least one layer 23 of corrugated paper or cardboard and at least two plane layers 24, also of paper or cardboard, one plane layer being firmly glued to each side of the corrugated layer as is well known in this art. This pad is slotted centrally thereof, as indicated at 28, to receive the pin 20, the pad being retained in position by the engagement of the flanges 2I and 22 on opposite sides thereof, as hereabove described.

In the slightly modified form of holder illustrated in Fig. 2, the squared free extremity of' the pin 20 has mounted thereupon a preferably rectangular plate 25 having opposed inwardly directed or bent-in longitudinal edges 26. A complementarily conformed plate 21 is secured to the free extremity of the curved portion I3 of the tube Ill and the disposable cleaning pad is retained upon the pin 20, which extends through the slot 28 in the pad, between the opposed plates 25 and 21.

The edge 29 f the pad is intended for engagement with the surface to be cleaned and is preferably rounded. The dimensions of the pad are such that it may be flushed through the discharge pipe of a water-closet without any risk of clogging it, but at the same time the pad should be sufficiently large for the most effective cleaning, Desirably, the extension of the pad in the direction of the curved longitudinal edge 29 is greater than the width of the pad.

As stated, the pad is cut out of corrugated board prearranged to provide the desired number of layers. A desirable method of producing such pads comprises the stamping or cutting thereof from a long strip of corrugated board of a width corresponding to that of the pad, each cutting operation providing the curved side 29 of one pad 24 and the recess 28 in the next succeeding pad, as illustrated in Figure 3. Thus, at each stroke of the cutting machine, at least one pad is cut from the strip of corrugated material.

The pad may be impregnated with substances that will impart to the sheets of paper .a resistance to moisture sufficient to ensure the required rigidity, at least during the cleaning operation. Substances with this property might possibly be introduced into the pulp from which the paper is made.

In order to obtain the maximum cleaning effeet, and at the same time obviate blocking of the discharge pipe of the water-closet, it is advantageous to provide the largest surface dimension of the sheet layers so that it amounts at most to the diameter of the narrowest section of the pipe, and not less than 60 per cent of that diameter. With the dimensions of pipe that ocour in practice, the largest dimension of the pad should preferably range between 45 and 80 mm.

In certain cases, the pad may consist of a sheet of spun glass or the like, impregnated with a stiffening material temporarily resistant to moisture.

While a single embodiment of the invention has been shown, it is to be understood that this is for purpose of illustration only, and the invention is not to be limited thereby, but its scope is to ,be determined by the appended claims viewed in the light of the prior art.

What I claim is: I

1. A substantially flat disposable cleaning pad consisting of a plurality of sheets of paper comprising outer plain sheets spaced apart to the edges of the pad and separated by one or more inner corrugated sheets, adhesive means at the crests of the corrugations for connecting said sheets together, and a slot in said pad extending from one of the marginal edges of the pad to a point adjacent to the center thereof for receiving a manipulating handle, another of the marginal edges of the pad presenting a plurality of separated paper scraping edges for cleaning material from a surface over which the pad is pushed.

2. A substantially flat disposable cleaning pad consisting of a plurality of sheets of paper comprising outer plain sheets spaced apart to the edges of the pad and separated by one or more inner corrugated sheets, adhesive means at the crests of the corrugations for connecting said sheets together, and a slot in said pad extending from one of the marginal edges of the pad to a point adjacent to the center thereof for receiving a manipulating handle, another of the marginal edges of the pad being curved to conform to the surface to be cleaned and presenting a plurality of separated paper scraping edges for cleaning material from said surface.

GEOFFREY STEN ADAMS.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 296,092 Weed Apr. 1, 1884 770,588 Koch Sept. 20, 1904 1,047,703 Rapson Dec. 17, 1912 1,182,786 Morrison May 9, 1916 1,219,147 Picard. Mar. 13, 1917 1,333,021 Hamilton Mar. 9, 1920 1,477,900 Ritschard Dec. 18, 1923 1,750,845 Lach Mar. 18, 1930 1,786,513 Zuckerman Dec. 30, 1930 2,038,957 Reach Apr. 28, 1936 2,038,958 Reach Apr. 28, 1936 2,160,155 Kingman May 30, 1939 FOREIGN. PATENTS Number Country Date 240,353 Great Britain Oct. 1, 1925 448,239 Great Britain June 3, 1936 452,936 Great Britain Sept. 2, 1936 

